Best $500 Gaming PC

[Jadak]

Very soon I will be building my very first PC! The only problem is I don't have build, so I thought I would ask. I am looking for something that can run most games (DayZ, Ark: Survival Evolved, CS:GO) at an average fps and that is somewhat easy to upgrade later on. Now I will need an operating system, I prefer Windows 7 (please include in build). My budget is $500 but I can stretch it to $550 if needed. So that's about it, if you would like to tell me some tips/guides for putting it together I'd appreciate it!

 

[Outlander_04]

With future upgrades in mind and keeping to $500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($41.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $507.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-29 01:21 EST-0500

If you have a bit more in the budget you replace the psu with
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-rm650
and consider a better quality case that would allow a decent tower cooler [ which you dont need but would be nice to have ]

 

[Jadak]

Can you give any examples of how well this would run (fps - settings, etc)

 

[Outlander_04]

Can you give any examples of how well this would run (fps - settings, etc)

google for GTX 950 benchmarks

 

[James Mason]

Windows 7 is prohibitively expensive because Microsoft doesn't "sell" keys for it anymore.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($115.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($51.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Case: VIVO CASE-V01 ATX Mid Tower Case ($26.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($12.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($93.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $584.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-29 18:05 EST-0500

 

[Outlander_04]

Definitely not the H110 motherboard .
You take away so many feature , cannot add more RAM and you can not overclock .
Basically including it ruins any chance of future upgrades

https://insider.windows.com/
Join the insider program and get Windows 10 for free

 

[James Mason]

Definitely not the H110 motherboard .
You take away so many feature , cannot add more RAM and you can not overclock .
Basically including it ruins any chance of future upgrades

He wanted windows though, also his first PC, he doesn't need to be overclocking.
Also overclocking isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[Jadak]

Wait is Windows 10 really free? That would help me out a lot.

 

[James Mason]

Wait is Windows 10 really free? That would help me out a lot.

It's free, but you're an eternal beta tester. So if Windows updates break something, it happens to you first before a fix has been discovered.

 

[Outlander_04]

It can be free , but I would not use it like that forever

 

[Jadak]

Ah I see. Putting a little extra money for Windows isn't a problem. But I am having trouble finding a monitor that's cheap and doesn't go over what I can afford. It wouldn't have to be permanent, I would most likely upgrade later.

 

[Outlander_04]

Budget 1080p monitors over 23 inches in size , and under 5ms response time

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/monitor/#X=0,12290&W=2300,4200&r=192001080&T=1,5


The Dell looks good , the 2 ms Asus is better for another $10

 

[Outlander_04]

Ah I see. Putting a little extra money for Windows isn't a problem. But I am having trouble finding a monitor that's cheap and doesn't go over what I can afford. It wouldn't have to be permanent, I would most likely upgrade later.

That insider program is fine . Just have a way of backing up all your data files , and be aware that someday it might just break because MS tried something that didnt work